Our Pledge to Keep Our Parishes Strong

A pledge is a solemn promise or agreement, something we bind ourselves to because of a special relationship with something that we value. When we give of our time, share our talents, or commit some of our personal resources to something, we show our degree of commitment to that value. In the case of our Catholic faith, our Church, and our local parishes, we show our commitment by living our Baptismal promises, participating in the Sacraments and parish life, and being good stewards of the gifts God has given us. Our Pastoral Team, your fellow parishioners, and I are grateful for the many ways you are committed to your Parish of St. Martha or St. Mary and our shared ministries. As was announced last weekend, we now invite you to consider another form of pledging your commitment to keep each of our collaborative parishes strong.

The “Parish Offertory” is the primary way that we are called to share our financial resources with the Church by supporting our local parish. This provides the largest source of revenue to keep our parishes ministries strong, properties well maintained, and here for us and others in the future. Remembering the gospel passage about the “widow’s mite”, Jesus affirms us not for the amount we give, but for our willingness to make a sacrificial gift – whatever that may be for your situation. At St. Mary Parish especially (where the Offertory has not yet returned to pre-pandemic levels), there is an urgent need for us to consider whether to increase our parish support in order for it to be a sacrifice we are offering to God. Please know that we do not want any of you to sacrifice the essentials in your life – for those with fixed or limited income, any gift can be a sacrifice.

January is when I invite each of us to consider raising our Offertory contribution to the level of a “pledge” to show the value our faith and parish hold in our lives. As in many other parishes, our Offertory Pledge Program allows us to make, fulfill, and renew our pledge to keep our respective parish strong. A meaningful Offertory Pledge involves three steps. First is prayerful reflection, asking God to help us look at our personal finances and discern what amount to give on a weekly or monthly basis. Second is signing a pledge card to inform the parish what we intend to give over the coming year. If your situation changes (new job, retirement, etc.), just notify your parish office if you need to change your pledge. Third, we fulfill our pledge in a trackable way with our regular Offertory contributions, either online or using parish envelopes in the basket. (I say “we” because I pledge to each parish, too.) Like other financial pledges, we receive quarterly update letters to assist in keeping up with our commitment, and to verify that our contributions have been properly credited against our pledge. I hope you will consider making or renewing your participation in our Offertory Pledge Program

In closing, I am personally grateful to all of you for the many ways you show you are committed to your Parish, not just financially. The Holy Spirit gives each of us many gifts to share, and we are called to share that variety of gifts in areas that we value in life. Thank you for valuing our faith and parish life together in our local parishes!